https://floodlit.org/f/f0010/Graphic details here
https://ia800808.us.archive.org/31/items/gov.uscourts.wawd.344253/gov.uscourts.wawd.344253.1.0.pdfBrief summary: Perpetrator convicted of sexual abuse in 2012 and forced to register as sex offender. In 2014 molested plaintiff as an infant.
Former SP and then current 70 (with same last name) "in late 2014, or early 2015, Cathy Bussey (“CATHY”) and PHILLIP, informed
H.B.’s father that BUSSEY had inappropriately touched H.B. but did not provide more information and indicated that it was a one-time mistake BUSSEY made while going through a phase of confusion." 70 was called as mission president in 2018.
Perp was then sent to residential school in Utah (also had to register as sex offender in Utah).
Then the following (from the legal complaint linked above)
"39. In January 2015, while he was still a registered sex offender in both Washington
and Utah, BUSSEY met with Bishop Thayne Lyman (“LYMAN”) to become ordained into the
priesthood. In order to become ordained, BUSSEY would have had to confess his history of
sexually abusing minors to LYMAN.
40. During this time, when BUSSEY was on probation, PHILLIP was a member of
the Seventy in L.D.S. CHURCH. The Seventy are the layer between the local L.D.S. CHURCH
administration and the general L.D.S. CHURCH administration. CATHY and PHILLIP had
been in communication with senior leadership in L.D.S. CHURCH members in the first or
second quorum of the Seventy. CATHY and PHILLIP consulted with these leaders in the
L.D.S. CHURCH about BUSSEY’s conduct, as well as his criminal case and how to proceed.
In fact, BUSSEY’s criminal conviction, probation, and registration requirements were active
barriers to PHILLIP pursuing his calling of Mission President in Spain. PHILLIP was not able to go to Madrid to fulfill his calling as Mission President until BUSSEY’s criminal case and
his requirements were all resolved.
41. After the two years of BUSSEY’s registration requirement had passed, and per
Washington’s legislation for minor offenders, BUSSEY was eligible for his registration
requirement to be removed and for his case to be sealed. PHILLIP and CATHY hired an
attorney who helped petition to get BUSSEY removed from the Washington sex offender
registry list, and to get his case sealed. Once they had succeeded in doing so in late 2017,
PHILLIP and CATHY then worked tirelessly to get BUSSEY removed from the Utah sex
offender registry and were successfully able to get him removed shortly after. "
"46. In December, 2019, PHILLIP and CATHY invited H.B., his family, and
BUSSEY, to visit their home in Madrid, to see their Mission work, and spend Christmas and
New Years with them. All the tickets were purchased and paid for by the L.D.S. CHURCH.
47. While in Madrid, BUSSEY began grooming H.B., for further sexual abuse, and
sexually abusing him. BUSSEY began to touch H.B. inappropriately, fondling him over his
clothes.
48. After the sexual abuse took place in Madrid, BUSSEY began texting H.B.,
individually, teaching him how to delete his text messages, so that H.B.’s parents did not learn
of the grooming behavior and abuse."
"54. L.D.S. CHURCH hid BUSSEY’s predatory behavior and history, in order to
seek favor with his family. At the time BUSSEY was first charged with child sexual abuse,
PHILLIP was a member of the Seventy, which holds a high level of authority within the L.D.S.
CHURCH. When PERPETRATOR sexually abused PLAINTIFF in summer of 2023, PHILLIP
had been elevated to the position of Stake Patriarch within L.D.S. CHURCH"
"57. L.D.S. CHURCH maintains a pattern and practice of concealing sexual abuse
from the authorities and its members as to the threat its clergy members pose. Additionally,
L.D.S. CHURCH maintains a pattern and practice of signaling to its members that they should
conceal and/or fail to report sexual abuse as to keep “the Church from being inappropriately
implicated in legal matters” See President Russell M. Nelson Letter (August 4, 2021). Through
this policy of concealment, L.D.S. CHURCH ratifies abusive conduct, perpetuating a culture
of concealment and encouraging a lack of cooperation among Church members with law
enforcement.
58. The Stake President and Bishops Handbook states as follows: “[i]n instances of
abuse, the first responsibility of the Church is to assist those who have been abused, and to
protect those who may be vulnerable to future abuse.” In conjunction with this doctrine, Utah’s
Supreme Court has characterized the Helpline as, “a 1-800 number that bishops and other
Church clergy can call when they become aware of possible abuse. The Help Line is available 24 hours a day, 365 days as year and is staffed by legal and counseling professionals who
‘provide guidance to the bishop in how to protect the [victim] from further abuse, and how to
deal with the complex emotional, psychological, and legal issues that must be addressed in
order to protect the victim.’” MacGregor v. Walker, 2014 UT 2 ¶2,322 P.3d 706,707 (2014)
[internal citation omitted in original].
59. In reality, L.D.S. CHURCH staffs the Helpline with attorneys of Kirton
McConkie, one of the largest law firms in the State of Utah. Rather than notifying law
enforcement or other government authorities when Bishops and other L.D.S. CHURCH clergy
members call the Helpline regarding sexual abuse within L.D.S. CHURCH, Helpline operators
transfer these calls to the Kirton McConkie attorneys, who advise the Bishop not to report the
abuse incident to law enforcement, misrepresenting clergy-penitent privilege laws as their reasoning.
60. In other words, L.D.S. CHURCH uses the Helpline to allow Bishops direct
contact to Kirton McConkie in order to get ahead of claims and avoid costly lawsuits against
L.D.S. CHURCH. This is directly contradictory to what L.D.S. CHURCH states the Helpline
is supposed to do, which is offer advice to high level members of L.D.S. CHURCH to protect
victims from further abuse and deal with the harms arising from the abuse that already occurred.
This is consistent with the instructions laid out in President Russell M. Nelson’s Letter, dated
August 4, 2020, encouraging congregants to avoid cooperating with authorities asking for
information about abuse.
61. L.D.S. CHURCH’s actions, practices, and customs encompass a culture that
prioritizes protecting predators, and the financial interests of L.D.S. CHURCH, over protecting
innocent victims of sexual abuse. L.D.S. CHURCH did not report any sexual abuse, nor did
they warn or protect children from sexual abuse they knew or should have known that its
perpetrators, including BUSSEY, committed. Instead, L.D.S. CHURCH continued to allow its
perpetrators, including BUSSEY, continued access to young children. Upon information and
belief, BUSSEY was never excommunicated from L.D.S. CHURCH, despite being criminally
convicted of sexually abusing another minor at a later date. In not excommunicating BUSSEY
upon the first allegation and suspicion of abuse, L.D.S. CHURCH had placed PLAINTIFF and
other young boys in the L.D.S. CHURCH community at risk of harm from BUSSEY."